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Can UKCAT score be improved?

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Reply 40
Original post by MattKneale
I think you're better off preparing for the QR section in the long-term, in that case i.e. practice your GCSE-level maths until your feeling much more confident answering simple arithmetic quickly off the top of your head. Practice using a simple calculator, not a scientific one, as that reflects the test more accurately. Better yet, use the simple calculator on Windows with your mouse and keyboard to reflect test conditions. A good resource is doing practice GCSE papers, Bitesize quizzes, general online cognitive aptitude tests and so forth.

For the other sections, 2 weeks solid revision would probably be more beneficial. I find that getting myself into the frame of mind for the UKCAT is important, rather than just knowing how to do it over a long period of time. If you can get your brain actively thinking like it should for the two weeks prior to the test, you should find it easier. Practising under pressured time-conditions also helps



I'd do the practice questions from easy-to-hard (and use other resources, too!). The UKCAT 600Q book gives you a good guide as to how long you should spend on each question, and how many questions you should have completed after set periods of time (i.e. 5 mins, 10 mins...)

Then when you're comfortable, and a day or two before the exam, go through the mocks in the 600Q book in the proper format and timing.


Thanks, very good piece of advice! I will take that on board.
Yes definitely! :biggrin:
With a lot of practice, good preparation and a bit of luck you can definitely improve on your score! :smile:
Reply 42
All i can talk about is personal experience. I was awful at it, got a really bad score for my first few practice papers (ie 495-550), then did a two day course and all the practice material that they gave me and in my real thing i got an average of 690.
Reply 43
First of all, practicing timing in all sections is vital and will really boost your score.

Apart from timing, I would say practice helps most with DA and AR as you have to get used to the questions so you can complete them quickly. Practicing with a simple calculator is also vital for the QR section. As for VR, i don't think practice can really make that much of a difference. In my UKCAT i got:

890 AR
890 QA
830 DA
650 VR

Admittedly i didn't put as much work into VR which is obvious from my score. However i'm really not an english/essay person and i was never that good at them so I don't think i could improve my score much in VR if i did it again.

My best tip is to simply start about 3 weeks before your test and get in as many questions as possible. I would say craming like crazy right before ukcat is more helpful months of work. However i guess its about what you prefer more than anything. Also begin to practice timing as soon as you have a basic jist of the questions.

(I just hope i dont have to repeat my ukcat next year) :frown:


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